In the wild, there are several species that occasionally practice cannibalism when it comes to their young. Fortunately for us humans, the thought of such a thing is repugnant as well as illegal. There is however one spices that practices this hideous ritual on a regular basis. One species that delights at the thought of devouring a young unsuspecting offspring. This one unique genus is known as "Polititicus Chiropracticus", known more commonly as a Chiropractic Politician.

This unique creature spends most of its time stalking and contriving ways to prey upon the new graduate. With all the skill and cunning of a spider spinning its deadly web, he waits for some unsuspecting victim to get trapped in its clutches so it can drain the life blood out of the poor fledgling. This creature is so cunning that it not only cannibalizes some of its offspring but then adopts the survivors and teaches them to one day follow in their footsteps.

If this scenario sounds a little harsh or maybe to far fetched, consider the following. In the last few years has the quality of our chiropractic education improved or declined? One quick trip to the campuses of our institutions clearly shows us that chiropractic education has taken a giant leap forward. With this in mind, we must then ask if the quality of our graduates has increased or decreased over the same period. The answer is a resounding increase in the quality of our graduates. As much as we hate to admit it, the new graduates are better prepared academically then we were just a few short years ago. So if the schools are better, and the product they turn out is better, why then are some "Chiropractic Politicians" in certain states doing everything they can to keep these fine doctors out of thier state.

Not more than a decade or so ago, a new chiropractor recently graduated from his or her chiropractic college they could go to practice in their state of choice. At that time you either needed only two parts of the National Boards, or you could take a state issued written exam followed by a practical. Then if you passed you were notified within a few short weeks and you could start your practice. The whole affair from graduation to license took anywhere from 2 months to a maximum of six months. Add to this the knowledge that there was a high pass rate, and a new graduate could be fairly confident they would be in practice soon after graduation. Today however the situation in many states, is quite different.

Now there are four parts of the national board instead of two. The pass rate of the some state exams has dropped to well under 50%. In some states young graduates have to do a 3 month / 300 hour "candidate training program" ( a.k.a.; Chiroslave Program ). The process of getting a license now averages from 6 months to a year ( just in time for student loans to come due ). And in many states new prospective chiropractic students are told that they must have 4 years of college before they can even go to a chiropractic college if they ever want to practice in certain states.

There are only two possible explanations for all of these recent changes in light of the fact that our colleges and graduates are getting better. Look over both of these two possible explanations and you decide which you believe.

1) Someone, in a sincere effort to protect the citizens in their state, decided to make these changes to increase the quality the of chiropractors coming into their. With this same thought of increasing quality, this person or group decided that the schools could use a better quality of student by telling the colleges that new enrollees must have a B.S. degree before they can go to chiropractic college. Overall the changes that were made were in the best interest of our colleges, our profession, and the public at large.

2) Someone, or a group decided that they didn't want any new chiropractors opening up on there turf, so they decided to discourage most and make it harder for the rest. This is because in their minds, "there are only so many bad backs to go around, and anything we can do to keep them out is good business for us."

From a look at these two possibilities, you can draw your own conclusions.